But two recent moves have added fuel to the rumors that privatization may
be in the works again—the hiring of Ismael “Izzy” Bonilla as the airport
director and a new state statute that seems to give Milwaukee County Executive Chris
Abele near-unilateral authority over the sale or lease of General Mitchell
International Airport (GMIA) or Timmerman Field.

Abele’s office shot down the privatization rumors, emailing, “The county
executive does not have current or future plans to sell or privatize the county’s
airports—General Mitchell International Airport is a
tremendous asset to Milwaukee County and we are proud of its emergence as a
national leader in customer service.”

And
Bonilla emailed the Shepherd that the
first he heard of the privatization issue was in a recent news report.

“I can safely tell you that all my experiences were discussed during my interview,” Bonilla
emailed. “But that at no time was the issue of privatization of MKE was ever
bought up and no discussions were ever addressed.”

But
Milwaukee County Board Chair Theo Lipscomb wants Abele to explain his
vision for the airport in a public setting, before the board of supervisors.

Specifically, Lipscomb wants to know if Abele intends to pursue the sale
or lease of the county’s two airports, if Abele wants to privatize their
operations, and if Abele plans to turn over the governance of the publicly
owned airports to an unelected body, such as the appointed airport authority
model that had been considered by the Legislature.

Abele, notoriously reluctant to speak in public about his vision for the
county, hasn’t taken up the offer, Lipscomb said.

“It seems to me it’s a
fair question to ask: What is the vision of the executive and how does this
pick [Bonilla] fit into that?” Lipscomb said.

A Valuable Public Asset

In late December, Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele announced the
appointment of Ismael “Izzy” Bonilla as the director of the airport, slated to
begin Feb. 1.

Bonilla is leaving his position as chief business development officer for
the Florida-based Hi-Lite Airfield Services, an airfield services company, but
his experience at privatized airports has raised questions about Abele’s vision
for GMIA and Timmerman Field.

From 2013-2015, Bonilla served as the chief operations officer of
Aerostar Airport Holdings, LLC, which runs the Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) signed off on the 40-year privatization agreement
in February 2013, and Bonilla was its first COO under the new model. From
2004-2006, Bonilla served as director of operations at Santiago International
Airport in Chile—again, for a private operator.

Brian Dranzik, the county’s director of transportation, denied that
Bonilla’s experience at the privatized San Juan airport impacted his hiring.

“The fact
that Mr. Bonilla worked at San Juan, Puerto Rico, and that it is a privatized
airport model has no relationship to his hiring here at Milwaukee, nor was that
part of the candidate sourcing and selection process since it is not under
consideration,” Dranzik emailed.

GMIA has lacked a permanent director since Terry Slaybaugh quit in April 2015 after just four
months on the job. Abele’s office told the Shepherd
the administration had interviewed four other candidates in addition to
Bonilla.

Bonilla doesn’t need to
be confirmed by the Milwaukee County Board, but Lipscomb would like him to
appear before county supervisors after he takes the position on Feb. 1.

In addition to Bonilla’s hiring, the county is beginning to feel the full
effect of an Abele-backed, last-minute amendment to the state budget in July
2015 that granted him near-unilateral power to sell or lease non-park county land, without any action of the board. Abele must merely secure the signature
of one other person to sell off county assets such as the zoo or the Milwaukee
Public Museum.

Lipscomb said the new law could be interpreted to grant Abele’s the power
to sell or lease General Mitchell International Airport and Timmerman Field
without the board’s approval, but that he’d like to hear Abele’s intentions in
a public setting.

But any plan to lease or sell the airport would need the FAA’s approval under its Airport Privatization Pilot Program, which allows up to 10 airports to apply for privatization via a sale or
long-term lease. Once the FAA gives the preliminary approval for an airport,
the owner of the airport—typically, a government entity—could select and
negotiate an agreement with a private operator. The FAA would have the final
say over the agreement.

A number of airports applied for the program, but almost all of them
pulled the plug on their plans. Most recently, in September 2013 Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel halted the city’s plans to
privatize Midway International Airport after one potential bidder pulled out,
leaving just one vendor in the running for the contract.

Airport privatization seemed to be a silver bullet for publicly owned
airports that were struggling with funding cuts from the government and large
investors who saw an opportunity in these public assets. According to
privatization proponents, a sale or long-term lease of a publicly owned airport
would be a new source of revenue for a public entity facing an uncertain
future. Back in 2006, Robert W. Poole Jr., writing for the
conservative Wisconsin Policy Research Institute’s Wisconsin Interest, estimated GMIA’s value between $122 million and
$520 million. That said, GMIA receives no tax levy from the county; all of its
operating expenses are generated by the airport itself, although the county
issues bonds for capital projects.

Lipscomb questioned how the public would benefit from airport
privatization.

“The public has created this valuable asset over decades, so why should
we give it to someone?” Lipscomb said.

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News and Views

Comments (2)

How many government workers would be dumped out an...

How many government workers would be dumped out and replaced by private workers if the airport were privatized? Is not that the true reason to privatize?Or is this the smart way to leave a private entity left on the hook after Milwaukee is no longer needed for travel, Chicago O'Hare is so close. Sell MKE to private, Milwaukee keeps the cash, and the private contractor is left with something they cannot sell (like a walk-away home mortgage).

WaukeshaGuymore than 3 years ago

Hopefully all of them, thus limiting the amount of...

Hopefully all of them, thus limiting the amount of future pension cost expose the taxpayers face. The other good reason to privatize is to eliminate having to issue bonds that the taxpayers are on the hook for in order to fund expansion.Also, MKE won't suddenly become un-needed because of O'Hare. On the contrary plenty of its traffic is because of the congestion at O'Hare which make MKE a preferred option for those in northern Illinois.

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